Megachurches

Three of the ten largest megachurches in America are located here in the Houston metro: Lakewood (#1), Second Baptist (#6) and Fellowship of the Woodlands (#10).

Between 60 million and 120 million people in the U.S. attend church on a weekly basis. More than five million people attend weekly religious services at a megachurch.

According to Hartford Seminary’s Hartford Institute for Religion Research (http://hirr.hartsem.edu/), which partnered with Leadership Network (www.leadnet.org) to conduct the largest national representative study of megachurch attendees to date, "The term megachurch generally refers to any Protestant congregation with a sustained average weekly attendance of 2000 persons or more in its worship services."

Megachurches are typically located in suburban areas of rapidly growing sprawl cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Atlanta, Houston, Orlando, Phoenix and Seattle. These churches are often prominently situated on large properties near major highways. The weekly attendance average for megachurches is more than 3,800 individuals; Lakewood averages more than 45,000 weekly.

The Hartford Institute for Religion Research indicates, "Although very large congregations have existed throughout Christian history, there has been a rapid proliferation of churches with massive attendance since the decade of the 1970′s. As such, some researchers suggest that this church form is a unique collective response to distinctive cultural shifts and changes in societal patterns throughout the industrialized, urban and suburban areas of the world."

In this nationwide survey, 14 percent of all megachurches (a total of 191 churches) are found in the State of Texas. Of those, 45 (or 24 percent of all Texas’ megachurches) are located in the Houston market.

The survey addressed a variety of issues – from understanding the demographics of a consistent megachurch member to the nature of attendees’ spiritual lives. Some of the more interesting findings as reported in Hartford Institute’s press release:

Nearly two-thirds of megachurch attenders are under 45 years old, as compared to only one-third for all Protestant churches (62% vs. 35%).

Nearly a third of megachurch attenders are single, unmarried persons. In a typical church, singles account for just 10% of the congregation.

Megachurch attenders are both more educated and more affluent than attenders at other churches.

The majority of megachurch attenders are not necessarily new to Christianity but nearly a quarter had not recently been in another church before coming to a megachurch.

While newcomers almost always attend a megachurch at the invitation of family, friends or co-workers, the real attraction tends to be the church’s reputation, worship style and senior pastor.

Long-term attendance flows from an appreciation for the church’s music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.

45% of megachurch attenders never volunteer at the church, and 40 percent are not engaged in a small group, the mainstay of megachurch programming.

What are your thoughts on the fact that Houston is home to so many megachurches, Texas-style?

Megachurches are the equivalent of sports franchises for people’s “spirtual” lives. Pastors are the equivalent of quarterbacks / mascots.

Amercians love to be associated with winners, thus their collective need to congregate “because everyone else is doing it too.” It’s a shame to see the concept of small, local churches fade into history. But not surprising given Americans’ common need to feel like a “winner” and associate with the latest fad of megachurch-going.

Given that megachurches tend to be evangelical, they are predominately attended by Republicans / social conservatives. Conservatives tend to congregate together in order seek out confirmation from like-minded people. Which would explain the absence of moderate mega-churches.

As for Houston specifically, there really is not a lot of variety when it comes to churches. Most of the churches look the same, feel the same, use the same language, etc.. It would be nice to see more variety amongst churches in Houston, especially those with more moderate to liberal theological perspectives on faith (most of those churches are located inside the Loop around Rice, Montrose, etc.). I have feeling there are a lot of Houstonians that would like to attend a moderate / liberal church but don’t even go to church due to the lack of options in Houston.

To those who are jealous of great singing in Church..which enable each congregant to participate in real sincere worship..you miss the whole idea..singing hymns and spiritual songs making melody in our hearts to God is the very essence of being filled with the Holy Spirit..When Lakewood had only 4 thousand people there was great singing by the whole congregation…now that Lakewood is a 40 thousand person deal there is even more great singing ..tada!!! and it’s the most active way to destroy your greatest enemy in this hour which is the religion to the east with the sword…:)

Mega churches tend to play down the whole “burn in hell” aspect of Christianity. Instead their sermons tend to be more touchy, feely, Christianity. Many of them tend to be based on the prosperity gospel also. Telling people if they believe hard enough, and give a few bucks to the church, that the all knowing, all seeing entity in the sky will reward them for their belief. The entity will give them happiness, a good marriage and of course monetary wealth. It’s an easy sell. “God loves you no matter what and “he” wants you and your family to be happy and prosperous”. People want easy answers anyways and when you tell them easy answers and combine it with promises of getting rich, plus add in a sound system, lighting rigs and production values that would rival a U2 concert and well,,,,ta da, you got yourselves a megachurch.

Bluetexan says, “Given that megachurches tend to be evangelical, they are predominately attended by Republicans / social conservatives. Conservatives tend to congregate together in order seek out confirmation from like-minded people. Which would explain the absence of moderate mega-churches.” I would certainly love to see the source of your information. I think you are completely and totally wrong. Conservatives and Republicans would be embarrassed to be seen at one of those churches which exist in order to enrich themselves and fleece as many people as they can. All the Republicans I know are smarter than that!

The point of going to church is to be “fed” spiritually. As long a that is your reason to attend church, then the surroundings should not influence your decision to attend. It is personal decision of an individual on what pastor/Sunday school meets their needs.

Music is alleged to be the main draw in mega churches? Seems the mega churches with ‘leaders’ that bellow on and on about personal prosperity as its central theme are not only high profile but seem to historically have a propensity for scandal(s).

Mega churches seem to be synonymous with extreme bling as it applies to their ‘leaders…’

We need not go too far back to point out Falwell, Bakker, Roberts and so on; all at one time or the entire time; lived in a sort of vulgar opulence. And a common tactic was to whine & cry to squeeze their flock to give give and plefge pledge, ad nauseum.

I was going to make another pithy comment about mega-churches and mega-BS until I read ExNasaDude’s lament about basing his self-esteem on what outsiders think about Houston’s cathedrals to stupidity. Man, you need to see the Joel and Vickie show so they can fill your brain with mush.

If megachurches are getting people to church that wouldn’t ordinarily go, then more power to them. It’s like watching church on TV: if you’re unable to attend for physical or other reasons, hey it’s better than nothing.

I understand there is a spiritual “high” in being in a large crowd with great music and a great speaker. You can get a “high” at a music concert or a football game. But it fades, often by the time you get home.

I think the real issue is the last bullet point: 45% are not volunteering or participating in small groups. The heart of Christianity is fellowship and community; growing through relationships with others. It’s hard to do this in an hour a week.

Maybe God wants to reach people who were not satisfied with their regular churches or weren’t in any church. The Spirit must be there or the people wouldn’t be there. Psychological analysis of the flaws of megachurch attendees may seem deep but the Spirit of God is deeper and more loving.

Mega-churches are mega business. The leaders of these behemoths personify the cult of personality. I’d like to think that Jesus was a little more grounded than the average Rolex wearing, Mercedes driving, book publishing mega-church mega-lomaniac. Then again, as Greenday said, the Jesus of suburbia is a lie. I betcha that he would probably sell the Rolex and feed a starving family with it.

As Bluetexan pointed out, the language and message at most of these churches seems identical. What tends to set them apart is production values. Image matters more than content, which probably explains their success in the keeping up with the Jones’, credit card millionaire mentality in the ‘burbs. They wrap the message up in slick suits and bright lights, but a snazzy book jacket or DVD box on it and sell it, sell it. sell it.

I don’t see a single problem with megachurches. I’d rather them go to some former sports arena and listen to the word of God from some used car salesman than to not have them hear the word of God at all. I’m sorry churches are conservative, but that’s because liberals don’t believe in God.

too much of anything is a sin. these churches are not about teaching the word of god, they are after one thing and that is money and the unsuspecting souls that give it to them. let’s see 45,000 members for lakewood every week times, let’s say, $100 per person. that would be $4,500,000 each sunday. times 52 weeks would be $234,000,000 per year. WOW! and tell me again why churches get to be tax exempt…..for that kind of money, i could make you feel good too

I think in a city as large as Houston and its suburban area, one would naturally find large “mega” churches. It’s not a bad or good thing. Mega churches (and organized denominations, for that matter) have advantages, but disadvantages, as well.

I used to attend Fellowship of the Woodlands, but as a small town girl, it got to be a little overwhelming after a while. The average attendance there is about three times the population of the La. parish I live in! Before I moved back here, I downsized to a smaller congregation. That was a good move for me to make. The worship was more “personal” for me. I knew more of the people that I was worshiping with every weekend.

There is a lot I don’t like about mega-churches. I told some people at a local church last weekend about how we used to pay to send the kids to VBS. There eyes popped open wide, and they couldn’t believe a church would charge for Vacation Bible School! There opinion, and mine, is that programs like that are a community service and outreach. If you charge for it, it’s not a community service program, anymore. It’s paid entertainment and child care.

I’m glad to be away from the city, where even church programs cost money above and beyond donations. My children have been to three VBS schools this summer. By invitation. Nothing fancy, mind you, but they had just as much fun as they did at the “paid” VBS’s they attended in The Woodlands.

Still, for all I didn’t like about a mega-church, I can see how that may be the norm in a city the size of Houston. And, I did have some good experiences there and met some really good folks there, some that I keep up with to this day, several years later.

I applaud Anne Rice. Christianity has become bigoted and about nothing else except money. If there is a hell, alot of Christians will burn. But the Jesus I know in will not let that happen, to anyone, no matter the crime. Jesus loves all, even those people despise. Read “THIRD JESUS” by Deepak Chopra and find out what Jesus really said.

These churches fill a great need, have huge missions endeavors, and are literally life-saving for so many people. Can’t imagine why anyone would be embarrassed that they live here.

While the primary worship services certainly center around music and the message given by the main pastor, the Bible Study classes and then the home groups really tend to be no different than those at smaller churches.

I remember when a church got too big for its building, it started planting smaller churches in outlying areas so people wouldn’t have to come so far to church, but instead could have a place closer to home. Now, when a church congregation gets too big for its property, it just buys a bigger property and a bigger building. All the better to bring MORE MONEY into the single church coffers. Anyone who doesn’t believe it’s ALL ABOUT MONEY is lying to themselves.

Looking at large churches worldwide might challenge some of the respondents’ statements. Consider: (1) The largest church is in Seoul, South Korea (membership over 150,000), not in an Anglo country. It grew by multiplying small groups led by women (against the cultural norms of Korea at that time). The heart of the church is the small group, not the stadium, and the flavor of the church is Asian, not Anglo. (2) The author defines “megachurch” as a large *Protestant* congregation, and one commenter characterized the megachurch as evangelical and Republican. However, Roman Catholics also have large churches of relatively recent mintage; their flavor is decidedly different than most Protestant churches, and their ranks often don’t look very politically conservative. So … does the actual diversity of large churches – across the world, and across all of Christianity – really uphold the stereotype?

“Three of the ten largest megachurches in America are located here in the Houston metro: Lakewood (#1), Second Baptist (#6) and Fellowship of the Woodlands (#10). ”

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Great. Yet another reason to be embarrassed to be from Texas. Why can’t we see news and statistics about Texas and Houston that demonstrate and promote the progressive, intellectual and forward thinking values many if not most of us possess. Why does it always have to be the knuckle-dragging superstitious simpletons that grab the headlines.

If Kerry Schnook spent as much money on care for the poor and the infirm as he does on television advertising the world would be a better place, instead that bunch of nuts up in The Woodlands seem to be focused on the bottom line. Ah, modern christianity. What a joke.

There is no such thing as “Christianity” in America. The religion most Americans follow has nothing to do with the original church and its beliefs, but rather, has been bastardized to fulfill the desires of those here who wish to profit off the naivete and gullibility of the average American dolt.

The few people I know who joined megachurches did so because they thought it was a good place to meet singles. If the pastor can con you out of your money, I’m sure the girls are easily conned out of their panties.

I’m not what you would consider a believer, but I would always go because it made my wife happy. We were attending a burgeoning suburban mini-mega-church in Cypress a few years ago that was still meeting in a school and preparing to open a shiny new building. One Sunday, they passed out “prayer” catalogues filled with stuff that the church would need to fulfill it’s mission. You would check off what you would pledge to buy. Among the items were 30….THIRTY flat panel LCDs (back when they were about $3,000 apiece) and a baptism tank that cost $100K+ and looked like it fit better in a Beverly Hills backyard than a house of worship. Luckily, this convinced my wife that most Christianity and religion in general is little more than a smoke and mirrors cash grab.

Once again, the hate filled comments of anti-Christians fills another religious blog. I wish the Chronicle would be even handed and remove the hate speech you see on here when it is directed at Christians.

My comments on the story are these: Megachurches do a lot of good. I bet the anti-Christians didn’t object to Lakewood when people from there showed up to help your clean up your house after Allison in 2001. Megachurches do a lot of good for Houston and our nation.

I’m not sure why someone that criticizes these mega-churches is Anti-Christian.

From what I’ve seen of their operations is it’s not to far off from the moneychangers in the temple. We all know how Jesus felt about that.

I will say I’ve seen some of the behaviors of these churches others have pointed out. I’m sorry, we should be able to question these operations as believers. I don’t like them. But if your happy going to one, go for it.

How else can you determine by looking at their operations if they meet your needs spiritually….

For me, me thinks Jesus would not be happy as the message has been intertwined with the $….and we know who’s realm that belongs too.

Really, let’s be honest here. Jesus was really a Gnostic…and I don’t mean Agnostic which is something else entirely.

But that’s whole other story that has been long buried starting at the Council of Nicea…

I think at this point in church evolution, we need to revisit the nonprofit/nontaxable status of churches. The primary reason churches were given tax-exempt status is because, in the days before social services, the churches fulfilled those roles. In addition to spreading the word of whatever they believed in, they fed and housed the poor, ran the orphanages, provided aid to widows, and even assisted the ex-convicts.

Now, while some churches still have some programs that fall in the category of social services, most churches do not.

I think that we should reevaluate the status of churches and regulate them just like any other nonprofit under 501C regulations of the IRS.

“To be tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, an organization must be organized and operated exclusively for exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3), and none of its earnings may inure to any private shareholder or individual. In addition, it may not be an action organization, i.e., it may not attempt to influence legislation as a substantial part of its activities and it may not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates.”

These requirements include a mission statement which meets IRS definition: “A charity’s organizing document must limit the organization’s purposes to exempt purposes set forth in section 501(c)(3) and must not expressly empower it to engage, other than as an insubstantial part of its activities, in activities that do not further those purposes.”

I think once the churches have to start following theses rules and regulations, the days of pastors in $1000 suits with their own fleets of aircraft might start waning. At least it would be a start.

“Megachurches are like Wal-mart, for folks who don’t want to think & don’t care what they buy.”

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No…that’s the Catholic church. That’s where I grew up. I now attend the Fellowship of The Woodlands, am active a ministry there, and have never once felt pressured to give money or had thoughts shoved down my throat. In fact, it’s this church and its modern views that caused me to THINK about going back to church. I find that the people around me accept me for who I am. I don’t give a dime because I don’t have money to spare right now, and they think that’s just fine. It might not be your choice to go to a megachurch, or even church at all, and that’s fine, but don’t think lesser of us that choose to do so. We all find God in different places (if we choose to find Him).

One advantage of a small church is that you can’t hide from the volunteering opportunities. When I joined my small little UU church in The Woodlands of 80 or so, the RE program had enough volunteers to cover RE in the first service for preschool through high school kids and fellowship in the second service. As a bonus, many of the volunteers were teachers if not special ed teachers. We are now at about 200 members and we have 5 bands/ choir groups going as well as any other ministeries. I don’t know if being big and anonymous makes it easier to fly under the radar. I do know that if you love your church you will give so that the church will thrive. I invite mominator (or anyone else who is looking for a welcoming progessive church)for a visit.

The shamefull thing is that most of the people who are making comments here have never even been to one of these churches. On top of that, I doubt any of the people commenting here would say a word about a ‘mega mosque’, if you think there arent any of those then go ahead and get in line to recieve allah. Its funny how so many people have such tollerance for any religion except Christianity. God has a special place for all of you.

As religious and political moderates, we were warned when moving down here of all the intolerance and the right wing political and religious pressure. Well, many of these posts confirm what we have experienced here, and that is much of the intolerance comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. As one poster said, it is indeed fine to raise legitimate questions about churches (and any other organization); however, it is quite another thing to stereotype and disparage them as ignorant, mindless, snobbish, money-driven, greedy, etc. These churches no doubt do much good both inside and outside the church. Everyone should be free to worship (or not) as they please. I’d also add that, as this and other studies confirm, members of these congregations often are among our best and brightest, and from all walks of life, and not some mindless monolithic movement. So, we all should look in the mirror before being so dismissive.

How is criticizing evangelical megacurches “anti-Christian” when there is nothing Christian about the beliefs and teachings of these places.

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EDB wrote:

“The shamefull thing is that most of the people who are making comments here have never even been to one of these churches.”

I’m sure most of the people that criticize Islam have never been to a mosque either. What’s your point?

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Factistics says, “Thanks for all of your input! Please note that this is *not* a religious blog as “The prize” suggests, although the discussion around Houston’s being home to 3 of the 10 largest megachurches in the country has drawn much discussion around religion.

I have attended a few in the past out of curiosity. NEVER AGAIN. I agree with some of you when you state that it is a cult environment. To me, it seems like a bunch of brainwashing going on. Most of them are teaching about financial giving and they try to use scriptures to back it up. While all of this giving is going on, the pastors and ministers are receiving helicopters, bentleys and dressing like pimps. I visited Hillards church and they had 3 tithing sessions during one service; at another megachurch there was a fashion show. If these leaders of the church told the people to jump, they’d ask how high. To me that is a cult mentality. I choose to attend my small little church where there is less than 100 people and my pastor knows me by name and is accessible by phone, not by security guards. I enjoy the eye contact and acknowledgement. I SAY NO TO MEGACHURCHES!

Helen…either I’m missing your sarcasm or you aren’t living in reality. Head on over to 2nd Baptist or the Woodlands and take a poll on voter preferences. If you honestly belive conservatives / Republicans would be “embarassed” to be seen there, then prepare yourself to be shocked.

Northerner’s observations seem spot-on. It seems that many of the commenters are intolerant of churches that don’t personally please them or fit their own ideology.

A question to Factistics: It would seem that a church would have to reach a certain size for it to be financially and numerically viable in recruiting members for mission work, feeding the hungry, helping those less fortunate, etc. Did the study you cited address this critical question as to what size a church might usually need to be before it becomes “effective” beyond its own self-support? Also, beyond such a size is there a proportionate increase in effectiveness in its mission, however that is evaluated?

“As religious and political moderates, we were warned when moving down here of all the intolerance and the right wing political and religious pressure. Well, many of these posts confirm what we have experienced here, and that is much of the intolerance comes from the opposite end of the spectrum. As one poster said, it is indeed fine to raise legitimate questions about churches (and any other organization); however, it is quite another thing to stereotype and disparage them as ignorant, mindless, snobbish, money-driven, greedy, etc. These churches no doubt do much good both inside and outside the church. Everyone should be free to worship (or not) as they please. I’d also add that, as this and other studies confirm, members of these congregations often are among our best and brightest, and from all walks of life, and not some mindless monolithic movement. So, we all should look in the mirror before being so dismissive.”

I’m no fan of megachurches, not at all. I agree with most of what other people are saying about them in these comments. However, northerner’s comment sums it all up and is really the fairest, the most intelligent, the best by far of anything said here by anyone; it deserved repeating.

I’ll concede he or she is right: Everyone should be free to worship as they please without being judged. None of us likes to be judged for our religious viewpoint; we should not be doing it to others. Intolerance is not right.

I was brought up in a relatively small town which was pretty well Catholic and Protestant. No evangelical anything, thank God. The population at that time was around 130,000 or so and churches were dotted around, some of which were hundreds of years old. I was born Catholic, went to a Catholic school and never felt any pressure to be anything or anyone but who I was.

By contrast I am here now in Texas and am appalled at this invasive disgusting evangelical creepiness. What the heck is “Born Again”? What a crock! How can anyone around here say how friendly their megachurch is and then see all the “No Trespassing” signs everywhere. None of the churches home ever locked their doors…churches here have “business” hours. I even saw a church (such as it was) in a shopping plaza called Church of the Winner’s Circle. That says it all for the kind of churches around here. At least there’s a few Catholic churches around but I’m not sure they haven’t been evangelized and I haven’t checked them out.

I belong to a large church in East Texas. It would be close to the mega church label.

While they did charge for activities (VBS was free), we were blessed with many internal schlorships. I cannot remember a time the kids did not go to an event due to financial considerations. My children were able to serve on missionary opportunities that they will remember.

A larger Church is able to have more missionary activities. From as simple as providing water to high school band, cheerleaders / drill team, and football players during summer workouts; to providing a refuge for displaced residences during Hurricane Ike and Rita.

The most important part is the Church and my walk with the Lord. My writing skills cannot adequately expressed my thoughts so I copied the mission statement from my church. Thanks and have a blessed day!

Green Acres Baptist Church exists to exalt God’s greatness, evangelize God’s world, equip God’s people and express God’s love–through Jesus Christ our Lord. This statement identifies what Green Acres Baptist Church is all about. It is for this purpose it exists, and every available resource, be it skillful hands, compassionate words, a creative mind or useful provisions should be dedicated to the cause of Christ as carried out by this church. Each Green Acres ministry falls under one of the four pillars of our mission statement based on its greatest ability: exalting, evangelizing, equipping, or expressing.

I attend one of the “smaller” megachurches in Houston and have since it started about 18 years ago with 12 people. It is essentially irrelevant where you attend as long as the word of God is taught in a straightforward, unapologetic manner. There are good things about large churches, good things about small churches, and bad things about most churches. Perfection will never be achieved in any endeavour of man…we are not perfect. Pick a church that teaches the Word, worships the Lord, and meets your needs and get involved.

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim 4:3

A Mega Church….is an indication that God doesn’t have to be leading in order for to thrive. The key is the fruit…not the wealth, not the health….no the numbers. I would advice any looking for a church to pray and seek a Bible Teaching church that holds to the Apostles Creed.

Ok here is my two-cents worth as there are several points made here I’d like to address.

An individual writes that “the point of going to church is to be ‘fed’ spiritually” and “it is personal decision of an individual on what pastor/Sunday school meets their needs.” The focus of Christianity is not on feeding ourselves rather it is to feed others. I hear many Christians use the “I’m not being fed” excuse to leave one church and go to another where they will no doubt linger around until something bothers them and then go off to seek another that more suitably “meets their needs.” In the Great Commission, Christ’s final words on Earth, He tells us: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt 28:19-20). He did not instruct us to find a nice cozy place to hangout once a week and pay someone serve us.

Following that train of thought, and the instructions of the Great Commission, the disciples fanned out and spread Christianity across the known world. Check it for yourselves in Acts. There are numerous cases where hundreds and thousands of people came to a belief in Christ and professed faith in large meetings. These new Christians took bold leaps of faith at a time when they were likely to be tortured and killed for doing so. Again the instructions are to make “disciples of nations” not to find a nice little isolated group where a few folks can lounge around comfortably and close themselves off from the world. Megachurches often appeal to new believers because they reach out to them. Many new church goers were closed off and frightened away from smaller exclusive churches. If new church goers get into the Word than before long they recognize that Christianity is not merely a means to feel good about self but rather to bring the Good News to a world that is in desperate need. If you belong to a small church that doesn’t recognize this and are quick to throw darts at churches whose membership is growing, while yours is dying on the vine, then shame on you brother or sister. Get into the Word and out of yourself.

Lastly, most importantly, many posters on this blog are simply looking for reasons not to believe or follow Christ. These folks see Christians bickering over this church or that, exchanging in heated dogmatic arguments, disagreeing over loud rock bands or traditional hymns, big church or small church groups, blah, blah, blah! These frivolous discussions detract potential new believers and push away more then we care to admit. It doesn’t offend me if someone who is either a non-believer or full-fledge opponent of Christianity speaks out and says things that may be considered offensive to those of us who go to church. Look at the fine example that we often provide! Is it not our mission to reach out to these folks as well? Christ calls each of us to tell everyone about Him and if in our emotional arguments we push others away than we are to blame for losing these children of God.

I was flipping the channels on Sunday, and found Joel doing his Sunday motivational talk at the Lakewood Megachurch. A minute into it, there at the top of the screen was a plug for his newest book, and how to purchase it.

Enough said. Megachurches are vehicles for mega-egos, mega pocketbooks, and for those who want to be in such a huge congregation, that no one notices if they’re there or not.

I wouldn’t step foot into anyone of the above referenced megas. It’s politics and posturing at it’s finest. (or worst)